Feeding apparatus



Dec. 23, 1930. J. B. oLsoN ET AL.

FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 15. 1926 M44 l 1 5 2 2 Qn 4 7( mf w. 2 .4 M n n ///5\ f. 1N, w l fw of/ 12 r/l 2v 7%# N C/ m /CWILMMlW l INVENTOR.

ATTokNEY.

A e sition.

vPatented Dec. r23, 1930 Um-Dif ,STATES PATENT lO'FFIICJE 'JOHN B. oLSoNAND GEORGE T. MARKEY, or roRTA'rKINSoN, WISCONSIN, AssrsNons f f To.JAMESVMANUFAGTURINGOOMPANY, or FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN FEEmNG APPARATUS Y Application led December V16, 1926. f Serial No. 155,134.v

This invention relates to improvements in feeding apparatus of that type usually classed asfpoultry feedersin which tlierweight of the bird in feeding position on a perch or 5 shelf is utilized to cause an agitation of the material and a delivery of a portion thereof froma storage chamber into a feeding pan or trough. InA a companion application Serial No; 152,088, filed'December 2nd, 1926,

for Letters Patent for improvements in feeders, we have shownv and described a'structure in which a feed pan is mounted in unstable Aequilibrium underneath an open mouthed hopper or Storage chamber, thereby l v the weight of an animal or bird placing itself 'in feeding position may be relied upon to tilt the pan and cause delivery of a portion of the food from the storage Vreceptacle into the pan. The structureshown in that applicationV is peculiarly adapted for small feeders, particularly circular feeders so arranged that the pan-may be tilted in any'lateral direction.

vThe object of this invention is to provide 2,5 feeding apparatus which maybe operated on the same general principle, but which will be adapted for feeders of larger sizes and particularly for elongatedfeeders intended to accommodate a considerable number of animals or birds simultaneously. More particularly stated, the objects of the present .inventionare to provide means for utilizing the weightof theA feeding animal or bird to tilt a feeding pan in one or twodirections under.- neath an open bottomed'storage chamberor receptacle g' to provide means for effectively working the material toward the sides of the pan from the longitudinalcenter line whenever the pan is so tilted; yto `provide cooperative agitating means adapted to be actuated by the pan when tilted to relieve clogged material vfrom the receptacle'outlet; and in gen- .eral, -to provide a compact, durable and efficient feederv in vwhich the major'portion of the feed will be protected from damage and A small quantities progressively exposed yfor feeding purposes by the action of the animals :0r birds when placing themselves in feed po- In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View of a feeder embody'- ing our invention with portions broken away to show the lower portion ofv the hopper or storage chamber in plan and to also expose a central portion of the feeding pan.

Figure 2 is a front elevation with a portion of the roof broken away` and a portion also shown in vertical section drawn gen-` erallyon line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevation partially in vertical section drawn to a transverse plane Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views. Our improved feeding apparatus when constructed as shown in the drawings has a storage chamber 9 supported by a pair yof end walls 10 and 11 which are formed of sheet metal and have downwardly extending portions 12 provided with inturned flanges ff 13 which serve as foot pieces. Y The portions 12 are outwardly offset at 14 to provide clearance for the end Walls 15 of arrectangular feeding pan having a bottom 16 and side walls 17. kThe bottom 16 of this feeding pan vent it from slipping out.

y The-end wallsof the storage chamber 9 and also vthose of the feeding pan are thus connected, and the pan'supported by this bolt 19 along a line above the foot pieces 18 and the pan is free to tilt upon the bolt 19. The end walls 15 of the pan have extensions 21 which support perches or platfrms22 upon which' the feet of the animals orf'birds may rest when they place themselves in feeding position. v l

The upper margins of the side wall 17 are inturned to form flangesy 28, and longitudinally extending rods' 24 are supported by brackets 25 underneath these lianges. yEach of the'rods 24 is Provided at intervals with f material descending fromv the hopper will acspaced fingers 27 which extend'through suitable apertures in the side walls 28 of the storage chamber as clearly shown in Figure 3. When the feeding pan is tilted upon its supporting pivot bolt 19, the lingers 27 will be .retracted on the downwardly moving side 1 and will extend fart-herrinto the storage kzo . chamber from the-,upwardly moving, side. The fingers are of sucient length so that they will retain their engagement vinthe Vstorage-chamberapertures in all'positions of panadjustment.

The fingers 27 vperform three'functioi'is Theyprovide feeding spaces through which the heads of the feeding animals orthe vbirds may pass to obtain access tothe 4food within th'epan; they prevent the food-from being thrown laterally by the billsor noses of the feeding birds or animals as freely as would otherwise be the case; and they also serve as agitatorsto prevent clogging of material inthe storage chamber, the walls 28 of which preferably 4 converge downwardly.

Y l .The'end walls v-10 and 11 of lthe storage chamberpreferably extend laterally to form end guards 30 and these guards are preferablyconnected by bolts at 31 and 32. The

bolt 32 may extend through the gable or end walls 33 of a roofi, Vwhereby the roof may betilted to the position indicated by dotted lines vin Figure 3 to affordfaccess to the stor! agechamber. The yend guards 30 are provided with obli-que upper margins 36 upon which the roof may restwhen 1n normal position. vWhen in theo-pen position, a portion of 'the roof'may engage an oblique margin V37r Ton the associated end guards y30,v said oblique marginal portion `37 serving asa stop tosupport the roof in its vopen position.

The operation ofthe feeder willbe readily understood. y The pivot rodv 19 is slightly above the bottom 16'of the pan, but is near enough to the bottom'so that the 'pan will be supported in unstable equilibrium and a slight increase in weight on either vof the porches 22 will be sufficientv to tilt the pan. VVheI-i the pan is so tilted, the opening between the lower margin 38 of the hopper or storage chamber side wall and the'l associated corner 39 of the rib 18 will ,be enlargedfon vthe downwardly moving side.l by Vdepression Y of the ribbed corner orshoul-der39 and it will be correspondingly enlarged on the upwardly lmoving side by the arcuate movementof the shoulder 39 `on that side toward the longitudinal center lineor plane ofthe apparatus.

"On-the downwardly moving side, the rib will tend to push outwardly material previously vdelivered inthe pan and. its movementfwill be facilitated by gravity. On the otherside,

cumulate in a position -to be pushed laterally i whenfthe tilting movement Voccurs inthe 'op- Aposite direction. ,y v Attempts have heretofore beenmade to rib corner 39.

from the storage chamber into the pan.

provide tilting yself-feeding pans with sup.-l Y

porting a-gitating members eXtendingup-f v wardly into 0r through the contents of the hopper but it will be obvious that in a'poultry feeder, such a construction is impractical for the reason that the fowls will not havesuiii-Y cient weight to tilt the feeding pan when the pos'ebe'cause agitjatingY members or pan supportingkrods extended upwardly into ia hopper will" agitato the materialy but slightly the hopper is less than half full or between that time and the time when it is yonly onequarterfull. In av poultry feeder, such a large downwardy discharge vof material will also clog the space between the bottom of the hopper andthe bottom of ,thepan' so as to prevent tilting movements of the latter; whereas,'in our improved "construction the fingers 27 move axially'with a very short -stroke and with slight'V agitation.' 'Their movement requires'but little power andthey tend to support the material withinthe hopper in ja ina-nner to prevent any.l violent discharge of alarge quantity of material into the pan at any one time.V

lf desired, adjustable .feed controlling o vwings or slides 40 may be mounted on the innerv surfaces of the side walls -28 of the hopper and secured thereto 'by clamping bolts V41 which-pass through slots 42 in the wings. e f

feeding'poultryl When .employed for fcedfing pigs, rabbits-or other animals, .these perchesor foot rests may be omitted.V The animals will. press their nosesagainst the Ybotto'rnof the pan andftiltit even more read` ily and frequently yif the j foot. rests are omitted, than 'would' otherwise be the case. Butwith some animals, foot rests will be desirable to prevent 'too frequent vand rapid agitationjand `consaquent excessive deliveries VVeclaim:l y n Y l Y l. 'A feeding apparatus comprising a stor age chamber having a bottom outletand ysu'pf porting end walls, and a feeding pan under# neath the outlet vof'thefstorage chamber and tiltingly supported'by's'aidend walls in feed controlling relation'to saidV outlet, said feeding pan beingprovided with an'upward'ly movement is resisted-by the pressure of ma.- i terial in a full or nearly; full hopper; such featur'esare also objectionable'forany pur- ,p when the hopper is nearly full and will cause a' complete'dischargeof the contents when extending rib having a flattafble-like'surface 1 along thel longitudinalcenter line of its `bot'- Vviso v CII tom portion and in a supporting relation to the maj or portion of material tending to drop tothe pan from the hopper and also having feeding -lingers extending from the sidewalls of the pan throughfapertures inthe storage chamber adjacent to its outlet, whereby material in the vstorage chamber is caused to pass through the outlet when the pan is tilted and is pushed laterally by` said rib.

2. A poultry feeding apparatus comprising the combination of a set of supporting end walls and a setv of downwardly convergent side walls terminating at a substantial distance above the lower margins of the end walls and forming an open bottom hopv per for the storage of food material, a feeding pan having itsends pivotally supported from said end walls adjacent to the bottom Vof the pan, the bottom ofthe pan being upset along its longitudinal central line to form ay table-like platform above said pivotal axis yupon which food material from the central vportion of the hopper may be received, said 'pan being wider than the open bottom of the hopper lwhereby food material may slide laterally to positions where it can be reached from pointsV exterior tothe hopper, and

poultry support roosts along the sides of the pan, supported therefrom and vadapted in cooperation with the walls of the pan to serve as levers to tilt the pan under the weight of fowls in feeding position.

3. `A poultry feeding apparatus comprising a storage chamber having convergent side z walls and being open at its bottom, a feeding pan having its ends pivotally supported adjacent its bottom and beneath the opening in the chamber, said pan having the central portion of its bottom upset to form a flat shelf directly underneath the central portion of the opening in the chamber and said pivotal axis being underneath said shelf whereby the pan may be tilted in either direction by slight downward pressure applied to one side thereof, regardless of the quantity of material in the chamber.

GEORGE T. MARKEY. JOHN B. OLSON. 

